Local

Government, manufacturing jobs take a hit, but private sector is up BY PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been highlighting how businesses have added 37,600 jobs since he became the boss of state government.

The job gains that Malloy has been citing lately come from the state Department of Labor's monthly employment reports, and a review of the figures shows the administration's math adds up.

Yet, the 37,600 figure does not represent the overall total because government jobs are not part of that count.

The labor department reported 200 fewer federal government jobs and 1,300 fewer jobs in local government in its May report.

State government added 100 jobs. The state employs approximately 54,000 full-time workers, according to the state comptroller's office.

The labor department reported that government led the five supersectors that lost jobs in May. Manufacturing was second.

When the gains and losses in the private and public sectors are computed, the job gains decline to 32,800 based on the labor department's figures from January 2011 through May.

While this calculation lowers the overall gains by 2,800, the 32,800 jobs gained still represents movement in the right direction.

Through May, the private sector has regained 67,500 of the 114,000 jobs that were lost between March 2008 and February 2010 due to the recession.

The 37,600 jobs added under Malloy's administration represent nearly 56 percent of the private jobs that have been recovered.

Any governor is going to spotlight job gains on his or her watch, particularly going into an election year.

Malloy is not trying to put a more advantageous spin on the job gains by using the higher 37,600 figure, said Andrew Doba, the Democratic governor's director of communications.

The government sector is not going to lead the way to economic recovery, he said.

PRIVATE BUSINESSES EMPLOY NEARLY 86 PERCENT of the state's more than 1.6 million workers, according to the labor department's figures. The government sector employed 236,500 workers, including the Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan tribal nations.

"We are emphasizing the private sector because it is the critical part of the economy, and one we believe is a real bellwether for how the economy is doing here," Doba said. "It is not because it sounds better."

The labor department reported the job growth in the first five months of this year is the best for a five-month stretch since the employment recovery officially began in early 2010.

This does not include the manufacturing sector. It lost 1,200 jobs in May. The sector employed 161,900 workers in May.

Manufacturing employment reached highs of 166,800 during Malloy's first year. The monthly average was 166,440 jobs, and then it dropped to 164,900 in 2012.

Doba acknowledged the manufacturing sector continues to struggle despite the administration's efforts to help the industry recover.

He tied declines in manufacturing employment partly to reductions in defense spending that are part of the series of automatic federal budget cuts known as the sequester.

Doba said defense contracts represent a vital source of work for state manufacturers and their employees.

"I don't think you can underestimate the impact of sequestration," he said.

Despite the job gains, the state's unemployment rate has remained at a stubborn 8 percent for the last four months.

Unemployment had topped 9 percent when Malloy took office. It started to decline after seven months and then picked up eight months later. After several months, it dipped again toward the end of 2012, but it has remained steady.

The labor department reported that a weekly average of 4,583 people filed initial unemployment claims in May. This was 353 fewer initial weekly claims than the previous May.

The initial claims for unemployment have been declining under Malloy's administration. The state averaged 5,488 weekly claims during the governor's first year in office. The weekly average dropped to 5,090 last year.

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